Teaching Contemporary Palestinian Political History

Land is for those who are liberated - Association Poster

Since 1948, the majority of the Palestinian people live as refugees. It is not only the people who are scattered across the region, and the rest of the world; with them are the memories, records and knowledge essential to understanding this contemporary history of Palestine, its people and its politics.

Focusing on the three decade long revolutionary period of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and sponsored by the British Academy, this project, has gathered original sources to create a university-level online curriculum through which to teach or learn about the Palestinian revolution through the eyes of the participants.

The materials available through the project’s website are in both Arabic and English, extending the reach and value of this scholarly work. Archival sources collected for the project include memoirs, communiqués, pamphlets, literary works, photos, posters, and film, along with radio clips and songs. The website also hosts a substantial new oral history collection: nearly 100 video interviews were conducted with those who took part in the experience. Refocusing attention away from political elites and toward the pivotal role played by popular organising and mid and lower level cadres, this project will help make this little-known history more widely available.

The project aims to capture a sense of the debates, ideas, and culture of a period which has, until now, lacked scholarly attention. The Creative Commons open-access resource provided by this product will be valuable not only to those studying the Palestinian Revolution, but also those with an interest in political ideas, decolonisation, and the global wave of national liberation movements of the 50s, 60s and 70s.